Tamarix ramosissima ‘Rubra’ George Forrest Camellia 'California Dawn' brings together

Camellia 'California Dawn' brings together two very different parents to make a large

and site the maypop where the summer-long parade of flowers can be watched at close range

where the tree first bore fruit

literally and otherwise

since the saw-toothed stalks can catch a passing leg

Tamarix ramosissima ‘Rubra’ George Forrest Camellia 'California Dawn' brings togetherImagine a shrub that looks like a conifer caught in an airy, pink flowering daydream. Tamarix ramosissima, often called tamarisk or saltcedar, is a deciduous shrub or small tree with fine, scale like leaves that read as cedar from ten feet away, yet drop in winter. That contradiction is the charm: conifer like texture on a plant that is no conifer at all. 'Rubra' is grown for rosy pink, plume like panicles that dress the branch tips in late spring,